Discovering Family and Friends
by mrsmellark-herondale
Summary: Diana is a child of Athena who joins the Hunters of Artemis. She is best friends with Annabeth and Thalia. They are called upon to help protect Olympus. Percy joins them on their quest. This is their story. This is my first fanfic so bear with me. Let me know if you like it and please review.
1. Chapter 1

What do you think makes a bad day? It's an odd question, isn't it? A bad day may be having an argument with a family member or becoming anxious before a test. That's a normal day for me. For me a bad day is if you're fighting for your life and being chased by monsters… so in other words, that's everyday! I know you're curious, so I'm going to ease you into this. All those stories are true and the gods are very real. The gods sometimes come down to earth and procreate with mortals. These children are half human and half god. I'm Diana, the daughter of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. The proper term is demi-god or half-blood. Since we don't have much time and those monsters could be anywhere, I ought to tell you my story.

I found out I was a half-blood when I was fairly young. My story begins the same way as my friend Annabeth's, so I won't go into too much detail. When I learned I was a demi-god, my step-mom hated me, and so I ran away. I ended up at a special summer camp that trains demi-gods called Camp Half-Blood. I never thought I would spend eternity hanging out with my Aunt Artemis as one of her maidens or meeting the daughter of Zeus. I never dreamed I would join the Hunt with Annabeth and become a Hunter. After several years at Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth and I were on a quest when we encountered the Hunters and ending up joining them. We found a second family and decided it was worth the sacrifice. What was the sacrifice, you ask? The sacrifice was to swear off boys and pledge eternal maidenhood.

To join the Hunt you only have to say a pledge, which Artemis must accept. After that, you are golden…well, you are actually silver (since Artemis is also the moon goddess, she prefers silver to gold). Gold is for her mischievous twin Apollo, the sun god among other things. Off topic, I digress. We had just joined the Hunt and everything was going great…

_Two months later_

We were enjoying our new strength and immortality. We didn't get older but I felt stronger and more confident. Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, explained that these positive benefits came with the immortality that Hunters have. If you were wondering about the pledge, here are the words I had to say: "I, [Diana], pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt." Artemis replied by accepting the pledge, and the rest is history as they say.

One day, Thalia, Annabeth, and I along with the other Hunters were waiting for Lady Artemis by a stream. We had stopped for a while and the goddess had gone off with a few Hunters because she wanted to be alone. However, Lady Artemis always had protection, so a few Hunters followed at a discreet distance to allow her privacy.

Annabeth turned to me and said the most shocking thing possible. "Diana, was this the right choice?"

"What?" I asked. I was confused.

"I mean was it the right thing to join the Hunt?" she sounded unsure, but she pressed on.

"Why would you say that? It's what you want, right? You can't really turn back unless you break the oath. Don't do that." I was even more confused. Annabeth had almost joined the Hunt once before, and she and Thalia go way back. Annabeth told me the story. She was with Thalia and Percy on a quest and encountered the Hunters. They were asked to join but never did. Thalia joined last year during the last visit to Olympus. Both she and Percy were there.

"I just…" her voice was breaking as if she was going to cry, "I just miss Percy."

I should've been surprised, but I wasn't to tell you the truth. Percy became one of her best friends when another close friend of Annabeth's left on a quest and simply disappeared.

"I know you miss him and everyone else at Camp, but you decided you needed another family, one that would always be there for you no matter what. One that isn't falling apart or in constant danger." I knew my criticism was harsh, but we both knew it was the wakeup call she needed to hear.

She started getting defensive and furious, "That was my choice, but now I miss going on quests, seeing the camp and feeling at home with a sense of purpose and belonging."

"Don't you belong here?" I was getting irritated, but I felt the same way. I hadn't been at Camp as long, but I knew trouble was coming our way; the Camp hadn't felt like home in a while, and we felt stranded. But now I finally felt like I belonged somewhere.

"I know what you're thinking…that I should of thought it through. I don't regret it. I just sometimes miss all those people who we never see anymore. That's all." Annabeth's voice sounded hollow and sad, but it wasn't filled with regret.

I began pondering all those people that I'd never meet or the relationships I would never have. I started to realize that I wasn't crazy about boys, but it was nice to interact with one every once in a while. After a minute, I came to my senses when I breathed in the fresh air, the laughter of maidens and the peace surrounding me, and I remembered that I had found a home. Not that the Camp wasn't home, but it was constantly changing. Nothing stayed the same for long. Being part of the Hunt gave me a sense of stability and home knowing things would probably stay the same. It just felt perfect after a long time of constant change.

This thought left me feeling peaceful. I looked up to see Lady Artemis coming back looking emotionless. I knew something was on her mind. She walked back slowly and quietly. She needed to tell us something important.

She came back and gathered us into a circle and simply said, "Hunters, we need to go to Camp, we must set out on a dangerous quest; both the Camp and Olympus are in danger."

I looked over at Annabeth and whispered, "You'll finally get to see Percy."


	2. Chapter 2

Lady Artemis filled us in on the way to camp. Apparently there was some unrest near Olympus. This wasn't anything new; there were always monsters near Olympus. In case you're wondering, Olympus is at the top of the Empire State Building floating several thousand feet above Manhattan. I've never been, but it is fairly simple to go there. You just get on the elevator to the 800th floor, but you have to convince the security guard. Camp Half-Blood is nearby on Long Island, but everyone just calls it Camp or the Camp. Off topic, I digress yet again.

"Lady Artemis, I mean no disrespect, but aren't there always monsters looming in New York City?" I tentatively asked.

"Your curiosity isn't without reason-there are always monsters nearby. However, an unusually large number have started to descend on Manhattan." Her voice was steady, but I sensed a bit of apprehension.

"My Lady, how are we supposed help?" Annabeth looked concerned yet pleased: she might be able to see Percy. I knew this was an awesome idea because if there was a quest involved, Annabeth and I could go with Percy. It should be either myself, Annabeth and Percy or Thalia, Annabeth and Percy.

"It seems the Oracle had a prophecy about this quest. The Oracle mentioned that the Hunters needed to align with the demi-gods in order to save the Camp and Olympus. But there is a part of the prophecy you may not like. You must go on this with with male demi-gods."

I looked around and saw a lot of unhappy faces. All these Hunters hated boys and didn't like the idea of a quest with them. I looked over at Thalia and Annabeth, and they didn't seem to mind at all. The three of us had gone on quests previously with boys, and we didn't mind as much. By this point we were near Camp Half-Blood and wondering what this quest was all about. Little did I know that by sunrise tomorrow I would be on a quest proving myself worthy of the Hunters along with Annabeth and Percy.

We arrived at Camp and found out what the whole quest would require. Apparently, the monsters believed that New York City was the best place to hide out and procreate (one of their many hobbies, along with chasing terrified half-bloods trying to reach safety). Our goal on this quest was to destroy the monsters and send them back to Tartarus. Basically, to destroy monsters you must kill them. Once the monsters are dead their ashes return to Tartarus where they will slowly reform. Monsters don't die; they just get sent back to Tartarus. It seemed simple enough until we found out how many monsters there were and how deadly some of them were.

"My Lady, who is going on this quest and when are they leaving?" Thalia inquired of Lady Artemis.

Lady Artemis had gone off to discuss the quest with the activities director, a centaur named Chiron. When she came back, she looked relieved, worried and confused all at the same time. It wasn't good. Thalia asked the question that was on everyone's mind, "What is going on?"

"It seems that the people chosen will leave at dawn tomorrow." She sounded like her usual self, which to be honest was a good thing.

"Who are the chosen people, my lady?" I had been exchanging looks with Annabeth.

We had been secretly hoping that we would be chosen and that we could choose the male demi-god who was supposed to accompany us.

"This is a challenging quest, and therefore I would like you and Annabeth to go on it. You two have experience going on quests with males. Also, I believe this is a good opportunity to prove you're worthy of becoming Hunters. After all, you are our newest recruits." Lady Artemis finished her sentence, deflating me.

We had to prove we were worthy enough for the Hunters? I tried to ignore the last part, but Lady Artemis was right. She had probably meant to say that we could show off our skills and make her proud. I hoped that's what she meant.

Annabeth glanced over at me and then asked, "Lady Artemis are we allowed to choose our male companion?"

Artemis smiled. "I believe so, this is your quest after all."

"We would like to request that Percy Jackson be the male demi-god on our quest." I hope I sounded formal because this might be our only chance to ask.

"Yes, I think that's seems fine. It's settled then. You shall leave at sunrise." Lady Artemis seemed proud and relieved. She knew she had chosen wisely, and she also knew that Percy wouldn't try anything with us.


End file.
